Tennessee Valley Fans Return with Little Sleep but Lots of Energy

Tennessee Valley Fans Return with Little Sleep but Lots of Energy

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) – Alabama fans started arriving home to the Tennessee Valley Tuesday morning, a bit bleary-eyed, but still engergized from the historic win.

“Bringing home the crystal!” yelled one fan from Cullman. “Roll Tide!” said his wife, more timidly.

The two were running on pure adrenaline to stay energized.

“We’re tired,” they said. “We got in the bed about 2:30 and got up about 5:30.”

They were two of 149 people arriving on a special Delta flight just before 10 a.m. Tuesday. They came back with lasting memories.

“What was your favorite thing?” WHNT NEWS 19 Reporter — and Alabama alum — Beth Jett asked. “The first touchdown,” said one Bama fan from Hartselle. “That set the mood for the whole thing. And just having our whole family there together.”

“Alabama won convincingly,” said Dan Glossen of Decatur. “We finally shut up the Irish people that thought they were going to stomp on us.”

And it seemed the Alabama fans all had good experiences with fans loyal to Notre Dame.

“Really nice people, and they were just stunned,” said one fan. “They had very little to say.”

“They started going home about halftime,” said another Alabama fan.

“Really a lot of fun, very gracious,” said John Plunk of Athens. “But they just don’t have Nick Saban and we do.”

After picking up their bags, most of the local passengers — but not all — had an easy plan for the day.

“What are you going to do now?” asked WHNT NEWS 19’s Beth Jett. “Go to sleep,” said one woman, then pointed to her husband. “He’s gonna go to work.”

It’s back to life for the Alabama faithful, albeit with national bragging rights.

Delta offered a special flight directly to and from Miami, departing Saturday and returning today.